What options do agents have to order a Strata Report?
There are two options for agents to order a Strata Report. We call the first option "Charge the Successful Bidder", which means the report is paid for either by the agent or the vendor prior to us booking a Strata Inspection. Once the report has been uploaded to our report store, each buyer pays just $59.80 for the report and the successful bidder is charged the total price less $59.80. We subsequently refund the agent or vendor (who ever paid). If the property is withdrawn from sale, we still issue a refund, providing at least 5 reports have been purchased for $59.80 each. The other option is that the agent or vendor pays for the report up front and buyers can download the report for free. Refer Buyer Protection below.
What is Buyer Protection?
When an agent or vendor orders a strata report for a Sale Campaign, we upload the completed report to our Report Store and buyers can download a copy. If the agent has chosen our free download option, this means that the buyer has no recourse for the information contained in the report, nor an opportunity to ask us questions about the report; unless they order a Personalised Copy for $59.80. Our "Free Download" option allows Real Estate Agents to offer their buyers a free service, which is great for people who aren't quite ready to buy but still want to research the market thoroughly before committing to a purchase. A Personalised Copy also allows the buyer to correspond with us, either by phone or email or both for up to 15 minutes.
Can I find out about a specific matter?
You may need to order a file audit via Contact Us because a strata report is not intended to be an audit of any particular matter. It's a snap shot of current and recent decisions made by the owners corporation and is priced accordingly. Rest assured that our Strata Reports are the product of the decision-making information that is available to us during the inspection, so we find that the information we cover, usually covers what buyers specifically want to know.
What if I want more information beyond what's in my report?
A standard Strata Report does not include further follow up to ascertain additional information/documents that were not available at the time of inspection, nor documents that are older than the period of inspection, which is approximately 3 years when possible and 2 years for large strata schemes. When it comes to large schemes, they have regular meetings and there is usually an over abundance of minutes, which gives you a great idea of what is going on in the building; however with smaller schemes often only having one meeting per year, we usually can't tell where things are up to, bearing in mind that most Strata Managers won't tell us either, because they are not obligated to. This means that buyers can be left wondering, but there's a few ways around this. Strata Managers are obligated to provide information to owners, so the agent can get the Vendor to ask the Strata Manager the questions you need answered. Alternately we endeavour to find the contact details of the Secretary whose role it is to manage correspondence on behalf of the Owners Corporation or a committee member. If all else fails, we recommend that buyers email the Strata Manager addressing the email as follows: Attention The Secretary SP1234. It's best to bullet point any questions and remember that you are more likely to get a response if you don't ask a lot of questions. We can do this on your behalf at cost, however it's not guaranteed. Just go to Contact Us and select "order a file audit $270 per hour. SP1234 is an example strata plan number, however we recommend that you always put the strata plan number in the subject line of all emails.
What is a Strata Inspection?
A strata inspection is not an actual inspection of the building. It is an inspection of the books and records of the owners corporation that are available for the period of inspection at the time of the strata inspection. An inspection of these files should show the history of maintenance of the building and may provide a valuable insight into any complaints lodged by other owners. It may also show plans for future spending. When you order a report directly from us, we inspect up to the past 5 years of files in smaller buildings and the past 2-3 years in larger buildings or buildings that have an unusually large volume of files.
Can I attend the strata inspection?
Most strata inspections are now done remotely. Either way, we do not allow anyone to attend while we are inspecting the files because the inspection time is limited and we need 100% concentration.
What information will be in my report?
What we include, is solely dependent on what records are available during the inspection. We endeavour to sight/include:
How long does it take to get a report that has already been arranged by my real estate agent?
Your report will be ready to download immediately when you receive a link or by using the search tool on our Home page. Please note that our reports are usually 7 pages plus the strata files that we extracted during the Strata Inspection.
Can I have the report I purchased from Before You Bid in my name?
Yes providing we produced the report. The cost is $25 and we update the report with your details and email it to the email address you give us within two business days. After that, you can correspond with us either by booking a consultation or via email or a combination up to 15 minutes. Click the following link to order: Personalised Report Copy
Can I cancel an order?
We understand from time to time that people have changed their mind about getting a Strata Report, so we refund all payments less 15% processing fee, providing we receive a cancellation via our website the day BEFORE the scheduled Inspection. Click here to go to our Cancellation request page or email [email protected]. All refund requests that don't meet these conditions will be declined.
How can I be certain that the building is structurally sound (e.g. no concrete cancer)?
We don’t inspect the actual building, so you may need to consider the need for a building report. Having said that, we endeavour to include an extract of any specialist reports eg an engineer report, providing the report is no older than 3 years or it's obvious that the owners corporation have obtained a specialist report but not yet addressed this issues raised in the report; bearing in mind that we don't always have access to older files, particularly if there's been a change in Strata Managing Agents.
Strata Managing Agents
Managing Agents can vary greatly from one to the other and vary in price as well. The Strata Manager is usually in charge of the day-to-day running of the scheme. Whilst personalities and experience of a strata manager matter, some strata managers have a lot of scope to manage the scheme and some managers are merely following strict instructions imposed by the owner of the business. The Managing Agency Agreement between the Owners Corporation and the Managing Agent can vary a lot. It covers what additional fees they charge, so it’s a good idea to research the Managing Agent (via the web), get a copy of the Agency Agreement soon after you settle and arrange a time to meet your Strata Manager. This may be easier said then done, as most Strata Managers are extremely time poor and their role is to represent the owners as a whole, not individual owners.
Why are the levies much higher in some buildings and cheaper in other buildings?
Some buildings have high quality and expensive finishes such as polished granite or marble foyers and lifts. These must be maintained along with the swimming pools and gardens and the costs will be included in your levies.
There are two options for agents to order a Strata Report. We call the first option "Charge the Successful Bidder", which means the report is paid for either by the agent or the vendor prior to us booking a Strata Inspection. Once the report has been uploaded to our report store, each buyer pays just $59.80 for the report and the successful bidder is charged the total price less $59.80. We subsequently refund the agent or vendor (who ever paid). If the property is withdrawn from sale, we still issue a refund, providing at least 5 reports have been purchased for $59.80 each. The other option is that the agent or vendor pays for the report up front and buyers can download the report for free. Refer Buyer Protection below.
What is Buyer Protection?
When an agent or vendor orders a strata report for a Sale Campaign, we upload the completed report to our Report Store and buyers can download a copy. If the agent has chosen our free download option, this means that the buyer has no recourse for the information contained in the report, nor an opportunity to ask us questions about the report; unless they order a Personalised Copy for $59.80. Our "Free Download" option allows Real Estate Agents to offer their buyers a free service, which is great for people who aren't quite ready to buy but still want to research the market thoroughly before committing to a purchase. A Personalised Copy also allows the buyer to correspond with us, either by phone or email or both for up to 15 minutes.
Can I find out about a specific matter?
You may need to order a file audit via Contact Us because a strata report is not intended to be an audit of any particular matter. It's a snap shot of current and recent decisions made by the owners corporation and is priced accordingly. Rest assured that our Strata Reports are the product of the decision-making information that is available to us during the inspection, so we find that the information we cover, usually covers what buyers specifically want to know.
What if I want more information beyond what's in my report?
A standard Strata Report does not include further follow up to ascertain additional information/documents that were not available at the time of inspection, nor documents that are older than the period of inspection, which is approximately 3 years when possible and 2 years for large strata schemes. When it comes to large schemes, they have regular meetings and there is usually an over abundance of minutes, which gives you a great idea of what is going on in the building; however with smaller schemes often only having one meeting per year, we usually can't tell where things are up to, bearing in mind that most Strata Managers won't tell us either, because they are not obligated to. This means that buyers can be left wondering, but there's a few ways around this. Strata Managers are obligated to provide information to owners, so the agent can get the Vendor to ask the Strata Manager the questions you need answered. Alternately we endeavour to find the contact details of the Secretary whose role it is to manage correspondence on behalf of the Owners Corporation or a committee member. If all else fails, we recommend that buyers email the Strata Manager addressing the email as follows: Attention The Secretary SP1234. It's best to bullet point any questions and remember that you are more likely to get a response if you don't ask a lot of questions. We can do this on your behalf at cost, however it's not guaranteed. Just go to Contact Us and select "order a file audit $270 per hour. SP1234 is an example strata plan number, however we recommend that you always put the strata plan number in the subject line of all emails.
What is a Strata Inspection?
A strata inspection is not an actual inspection of the building. It is an inspection of the books and records of the owners corporation that are available for the period of inspection at the time of the strata inspection. An inspection of these files should show the history of maintenance of the building and may provide a valuable insight into any complaints lodged by other owners. It may also show plans for future spending. When you order a report directly from us, we inspect up to the past 5 years of files in smaller buildings and the past 2-3 years in larger buildings or buildings that have an unusually large volume of files.
Can I attend the strata inspection?
Most strata inspections are now done remotely. Either way, we do not allow anyone to attend while we are inspecting the files because the inspection time is limited and we need 100% concentration.
What information will be in my report?
What we include, is solely dependent on what records are available during the inspection. We endeavour to sight/include:
- The insurance cover
- Current balances of owners corporations funds and current balances of the unit
- Past expenditure
- Past decisions that impact future expenditure e.g. Special Levies.
- Ongoing costs known as levy contributions
- Planned future work that hasn’t been budgeted for
- Capital Works Fund Plan for large schemes*
- A summary of current/recent significant matters e.g. legal, defects, remedial works
- Taxation status if obvious or noted in recent minutes
- Compliance Documents may be included (or extracts) e.g. Safety Report, Asbestos Report, Annual Fire Statement/council fire order
- Minutes of meetings containing important decisions
- Extracts from specialist reports, such as a Defect or Engineers reports*
How long does it take to get a report that has already been arranged by my real estate agent?
Your report will be ready to download immediately when you receive a link or by using the search tool on our Home page. Please note that our reports are usually 7 pages plus the strata files that we extracted during the Strata Inspection.
Can I have the report I purchased from Before You Bid in my name?
Yes providing we produced the report. The cost is $25 and we update the report with your details and email it to the email address you give us within two business days. After that, you can correspond with us either by booking a consultation or via email or a combination up to 15 minutes. Click the following link to order: Personalised Report Copy
Can I cancel an order?
We understand from time to time that people have changed their mind about getting a Strata Report, so we refund all payments less 15% processing fee, providing we receive a cancellation via our website the day BEFORE the scheduled Inspection. Click here to go to our Cancellation request page or email [email protected]. All refund requests that don't meet these conditions will be declined.
How can I be certain that the building is structurally sound (e.g. no concrete cancer)?
We don’t inspect the actual building, so you may need to consider the need for a building report. Having said that, we endeavour to include an extract of any specialist reports eg an engineer report, providing the report is no older than 3 years or it's obvious that the owners corporation have obtained a specialist report but not yet addressed this issues raised in the report; bearing in mind that we don't always have access to older files, particularly if there's been a change in Strata Managing Agents.
Strata Managing Agents
Managing Agents can vary greatly from one to the other and vary in price as well. The Strata Manager is usually in charge of the day-to-day running of the scheme. Whilst personalities and experience of a strata manager matter, some strata managers have a lot of scope to manage the scheme and some managers are merely following strict instructions imposed by the owner of the business. The Managing Agency Agreement between the Owners Corporation and the Managing Agent can vary a lot. It covers what additional fees they charge, so it’s a good idea to research the Managing Agent (via the web), get a copy of the Agency Agreement soon after you settle and arrange a time to meet your Strata Manager. This may be easier said then done, as most Strata Managers are extremely time poor and their role is to represent the owners as a whole, not individual owners.
Why are the levies much higher in some buildings and cheaper in other buildings?
Some buildings have high quality and expensive finishes such as polished granite or marble foyers and lifts. These must be maintained along with the swimming pools and gardens and the costs will be included in your levies.